Smoke Gets in Your Eyes
by BlueberryPancakes
Summary: Feeling undervalued, Gillette and Groves seek solace in each other. Grovette Slash. GilletteGroves


Smoke Gets in Your Eyes

Lieutenant Andrew Gillette sighed as he trudged up the low, steadily inclining hill towards his home. The day's events had been… exhausting.

It all came down to that dammed pirate. Things had been going quite well until he had shown up.

Andrew sighed. He knew he couldn't blame it all on Sparrow, as much as he wanted to. The cursed pirates would have attacked anyway, as they were drawn to the retched gold Miss Swann had. She might have even been dead, had he not been there to dive in and save her. They would have been clueless as to where to find her after her capture.

Still, the man was a pirate. And had caused just as much headache as possible. Their jail was apparently not as superior as they had thought it was. He had had a pistol not more than three inches from his face. A ship had been lost to the hands of a pirate, and then to the sea. Not just any ship, but the _Dauntless_, the pride of the British Royal Navy. It had all driven James into a downward spiral, from which an end was not currently in sight.

He sighed again as he reached his door. He opened it and walked heavily through the main rooms, heading straight for the bedroom. He shrugged away his coat as he walked.

Theodore Groves looked up as the bedroom door creaked quietly on its hinges. "You said you were going home over an hour ago. What happened?"

Andrew looked up, shaken from his thoughts, "Oh, hello, Teddy…" He greeted his friend and lover.

Theodore watched him for a moment. Andrew laid his coat on the chair and started to loosen his cravat. "You tired to talk to him, again, didn't you?"

Andrew looked over, eyes narrowing.

Theodore smiled, "You know I didn't mean anything by that, And'." He raised his eyebrows.

Andrew sighed, for what felt like the umpteenth time that day. "I know… I'm sorry, Teddy…"

Theodore merely smiled softly at him. He could see the tenseness of Andrew's shoulders under the thin undershirt. "Come here, love." He leaned back, lying contently against the pillows.

Andrew pulled off his shirt, tossing his shoes and stockings aside. He came over to the bed and crawled on. He sighed contently as Theodore wrapped his arms around him, pulling him close. He rested his head on his chest, listening to the steady heartbeat, coupled with the slow rise and fall of his chest with each breath.

"How long have you been waiting here?"

"Little less than an hour." Theodore shrugged.

"Did anyone see you come?"

"Maybe. That's what the satchel and the various sheets of "paperwork" were for. Business, of course."

"Mmmm." Andrew laughed gently, "I like this business…"

"What did he say?" Theodore asked, after a moment.

Andrew opened his eyes again. "Same as always. Wouldn't talk. Brushed it away, of course. Babbled about Sparrow and ushered me away."

"He's been doing that a lot, lately."

"Babbling inanely about Sparrow and brushing everything else away?"

"Well, yes, but that's not what I meant. He's been pushing us away, lately. Not just as friends, but on duty, now, too."

Andrew didn't say anything for a moment. He had noticed it, too. James kept pushing his friends away. He could understand it, after what had happened, it would be natural to try and alienate himself, to keep anything from breaking the walls, again.

But the Commodore had suddenly seemed to not need his Lieutenants. He didn't meet with them, unless he absolutely had to. He was short and businesslike, more so than before, beyond the normal standards of duty and propriety. They did very little, save meaningless jobs, all but competing with the clerks for work. They were given no explanation, no single remark or glance, even. He had changed. They didn't know if he would ever be the same, again.

He sat up, hunching forward. "He's just so overworked right now. And that wench had no right to treat him like she did. A _blacksmith_?" Andrew scoffed, face crinkling.

"Don't think too much about it. He'll be all right, he's our James." Theodore told him softly, wrapping an arm around him and resting his head on Andrew's shoulder.

"Mm." Andrew closed his eyes.

Theodore lightly pressed a soft kiss to the tip of his ear. He worked his way down, trailing feathery kisses across Andrew's jaw. A slow grin spread across his face at the reaction his touches elicited.

"Teddy…" Andrew breathed, tilting his head and arching his back. He gasped as Theodore's hands deftly unlaced his breeches, fingers slipping inside, teasing him.

Theodore shifted so that he lay on top of him, unlacing his own breeches, letting his hardening member free from its confines. He leaned down, kissing Andrew on the lips.

Andrew arched his back, rocking his hips. It was torture, exquisite torture. "Teddy, please…" He breathed, moaning from low in his throat.

Theodore wasted no time in heeding his lover's words. He slid one knee forward, rising to hover just above him, between Andrew's parted legs.

They made love deep into the night, bodies moving in learned rhythm with one another. They moaned each other's names into the darkness. Hands roamed and fiery kisses set already heated and flushed skin aflame.

"Teddy…"

"Ah… And'…"

Theodore collapsed on top of him, boneless, both breathing heavily.

Andrew tenderly kissed his temple as he slid to lie beside him. He rested his head against Theodore's heated chest. "Mm, love you, Teddy."

Theodore wrapped his arms around him, holding him close as sleep pulled them towards quiet darkness. "I love you too, And'."

They listed to the quiet sound of the sea outside, light, tropical breeze noiselessly moving the curtains through the cracked window. Andrew relaxed, breathing slowing to a steady and soft rhythm.

"Goodnight, Andy." Theodore murmured and gently kissed his forehead. He laid his head down on the pillow beside him.

They both needed their rest. After all, there was a pirate to be caught.

The End

Author's Note:

Done using CrimsonShinigami's Plotbunnies:

4. Feeling undervalued, Gillette and Groves seek solace in each other


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